Christmas

I was surrounded by people I love for the Christmas holiday! It all started the weekend before Christmas. I got to spend time with some friends in Utah.
Aaron and Haley made the long drive out from Georgia for the holidays along with their kids and Mom.
All of my brother playing with the kiddos.
David and Jonathan.
William, Jonathan, and Me.
We went tubing at Solider Hollow. It was a slushy day, but we still had lots of fun.

We spent Christmas Eve at the Engebretsens with a bunch of family from Mom's side. It was great to spend time with everyone. As far as my immediate family goes it was Me, Mom, all the boys and their families.
We got to have Christmas dinner with our very own Hermana Hale. What a blessing!!! It was so great to see Kathy. She is doing so well.
The three little kids :)
+ Mom

Fall 2010

The semester is over and I am currently loving every minute of my Christmas break!! I love being surrounded by loved ones!! I was quite the blogging slacker this semester so I'll give you an overview. The semester started out perfectly!! I was on top of all my school work, loving my new ward, going on fun adventures, and simply enjoying everything. All of that came to a halt when I got mono. Before I always thought, so you're tired for a few weeks, no big deal...WRONG!!!! Suddenly, the ONLY thing I could do was sleep. Some of you might think that sounds wonderful, but if you know me very well you know that I like to get things done. I hate sleeping excessively, I sleep enough to get the energy I need. I was not a happy camper when I would sleep an average of 20 hours a day and still wake up exhausted. I was informed that most people drop the semester when they get mono, and I had just changed my major making that near impossible to do. I missed atleast 3 weeks of school, and when I started going back to class it was all I could do to keep up with then new material we were covering. I have never felt so frustrated, inadequate, helpless, or overwhelmed. Just when I would start to get better I would get hit with another wave of exhaustion. That is still going on. It was especially frustrating during finals.
Lets look at the positive. The first thing my Mom said after I told her I have mono was "You are going to learn some valuable lessons this semester." I had no idea how true that statement would prove to be. I learned so many things that I wouldn't have learned any other way. I could write a long list of things, but it all boils a few things. It is possible to accomplish things that you CANNOT do on your own when you rely on the Lord. Count your many blessings, including your trials, they can be the best blessings of all if you will allow yourself to learn from them. It was nothing short of a miracle that I was able to finish the semester with a B average. It was not easy but it was worth all of the hard work and frustration. This time next year I will be finishing my last semester on campus, and getting ready to start my student teaching :). That's it in a nutshell. Merry Christmas!!

Dear Mono,

I would love to say that it has been fun, but it hasn't. I would love to tell you that I have loved having you in my life for the last 4 weeks, but that would be a lie. I actually kind of hated it a lot. I would love to say that you are welcome back anytime, but I'd rather get a restraining order. I'd love to say goodbye, but I can't because you are still here. So, please go away ASAP! I want my life back. I'm getting rather bored, frustrated, and behind in my school work.

Sincerely,

Janae

Mesa Falls

Kaylee took me on an adventure to Mesa Falls today. It was so nice to get out of the house. I have been in bed ALL WEEK!!! Don't worry I took it super easy. Most of it was just enjoying the drive through beautiful scenery.

Kaylee and I at the Warm River overlook. We got a kick out of that. There is no such thing as a warm river in Idaho.

This is at Upper Mesa Falls. We didn't go all the way down for obvious reason, but it was still beautiful.

California Surprise!

Last Thursday I decided that I was going to go to California to surprise my dear friend Bailey for her mission farewell. I rode down with two friends. It was a 12 hour drive, and we left right after we got out of class on Friday around 2pm.

When we got to Bailey's house I hid behind the car. The guys asked Bailey to help with their bags, and when she came around the corner, I jumped out. She almost had a heart attack (partially because it was dark and I scared her, but mostly because she was beside herself that I was there). Bailey surprised Kathy for her farewell (see Kathy's farewell blog post) she couldn't believe that I pulled the same thing on her, but she was so glad that I did.

We stayed up until 4am talking, and then woke up at 8 am. On Saturday we went to the Oakland Temple and visitors center, we had lunch at Fenton's Creamery (the one from the movie UP) so delicious!!!, we went to the Golden Gate Bridge, and explored San Francisco.






After our adventures we went back to Bailey's for some down time. I CRASHED!!!!! As you can tell from the picture they took of me during my nap.



That night was Bailey's farewell party.

By the end of the farewell party Megan and I were exhausted (We both drove to California from Idaho the night before). We got a power nap so we could play all night long.

Then we went over to a friends house and celebrated Bailey's last night by playing games and going swimming!!!! (we had to go swimming in our clothes)
This is a sneak peek of the games we played. They were so much fun. I was basically rolling on the floor laughing.
On Sunday morning and then we listened to Bailey give her farewell address. We hit the road at about noon, and got home at 1am. On Monday morning I went to the doctor to find out that I have mono. That explains me crashing all weekend. It was still worth the trip. I'm so glad I got to see Bailey one last time, and enjoy this exciting time with her.

Bucket List

Here I am on a perfectly good Friday stuck in bed staring at the wall. My kind of activity? I think not. Soooo I'm going to make a bucket list. I have tried several times to make one, but I never held onto it, so this will be the official one. (disclaimer: some of these things were on a previous bucket list of mine so I have already done some of the things. However, if it is on this list and I have done it before, I will do it again.)

1. Get Married in the Temple
2. Graduate from College
3. Be a Mother (this is a picture of my sister Janel with her cute girls on Mother's day).
4. Visit all 50 states in the United States (last I counted I have been to about 40).
5. Go Skydiving
6. Go Scuba Diving
7. See the Great Wall of China
8. Hike from Rim to Rim of the Grand Canyon (again)
9. Go to Australia

10. Read The Book of Mormon in a day.

11. Go Cliff Jumping
12. Swim with Dolphins
13. Kiss in the Rain
14. Successfully make Cake Balls
15. Go to a light house in Maine
16. Swim under a waterfall
17. Go skinny dipping

(no photo for this one hahaha)


18. Sleep in a cave.
19. Find a hidden treasure.


20. Run a half marathon21. Save someone's life
22. Go on a cruise
23. Watch the sunrise on the coast
24. Drive from Coast to Coast of the US
25. Sleep in a hammock under the stars

26. Meet the Little Chocolatiers

This is just the beginning of my "bucket list" but I think it is a pretty good start. I'll add more later.

General Conference

I love General Conference!!!! Mostly because it is General Conference, and it is always so encouraging, but I also got to do lots of fun things this conference weekend. For starters Megan decided at the last minute to drive out with a couple friends. They drove a total of 60 hours to be out here for 36 hours. It was so much fun to spend time with her.

We started by making a quick stop by the Knoxville mission reunion that was being held in Salt Lake. This is us with (Elder) David Jackman. He served in our singles ward last fall and I got to help him and his companion out a lot. It was cool to see a lot of the old missionaries, and other people from Knoxville.
Me and one cute cousin Kristine!

Me and Megan

We crashed at my cousin Kristine's apartment in Salt Lake for the night.
Megan literally crashed on the love sac and I am not kidding when I say she did not move until I woke her up the next morning. Poor girl, got like 3 hours of sleep in 48 hours.
We got to go to both sessions of conference in the Conference Center on Saturday. For the morning session we just got there early and asked people for tickets on the side walk. We lucked out and found someone who had extra tickets. Michael and Chris (the guys from my home ward that Megan drove to Utah with) had 2 extra tickets for the afternoon session. Perfect right? So we went to the second session with them.
If you have ever seen the TLC show called "The Little Chocolatiers" you recognize the people in the picture. They own Hatch Family Chocolates in Salt Lake City. They have very delicious chocolates!!
Also if you are ever in Salt Lake you should try The Pie Pizzeria. It is this hole in the wall place. It might be the best pizza I have ever eaten.
On Sunday I spent the day at my Grandma and Grandpa Hale's house. I enjoyed listening to conference, and spending time with Grandma, Grandpa, and my Uncle Bob's family.

Jon, Adam, Me, and Kinsey